Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 12, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Oct 24, 1997, 12:47 AM CDT for Evangeline Parish, Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 58 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Oct 24, 1997, 12:47 AM CDT (05:47 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 24, 1997, 1:45 AM CDT
- In force
- 58 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
The radar
The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:47 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 24, 12:50 AM CDT | Tornado F0 | Fenton, LA | |
| Oct 24, 1:10 AM CDT | Tornado F1 | Basile, LA |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.
The watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 23, 8:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
| Oct 24, 12:30 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 71 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 880 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -3 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 853 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 124 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 173 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.7
- Supercell composite
- 3.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KLCH 240549 RRA TORLCH LAC039-053-240645- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 1247 AM CDT FRI OCT 24 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 145 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA ...EVANGELINE PARISH...JEFFERSON DAVIS PARISH AT 1245 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ELTON. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THE TOWNS OF ELTON...BASILE AND MAMOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS ...OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 23, 8:24 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LCH | Beauregard | 66 min |
| Oct 23, 9:05 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LCH | Allen | 55 min |
| Oct 23, 9:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Vernon | 36 min |
| Oct 23, 9:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Rapides | 47 min |
| Oct 24, 1:56 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | LCH | Vermilion | 64 min |
| Oct 24, 3:49 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Allen, Evangeline | 41 min |
| Oct 24, 3:49 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Avoyelles | 41 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Louisiana, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes in 1997
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.